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...KNIGHT INLET, FAMILY GRIZZLIES--MOM, HER YEARLING TWINS, AND THEIR OLDER SISTER. THE BABYSITTER--ARE NOSING AROUND THE BOULDERS AND BEACH GRASS, TAKING ONLY THE MEATIEST CORPSES. MORE THAN A MILLION SALMON HAVE COME BACK THIS YEAR: THE BEARS CAN AFFORD TO BE CHOOSEY.
A respectable distance along the shore, Panda, a five-year-old male, is shredding a fish. As usual, he is alone, except for his uninvited companion, Raven, who hops along behind, picking up scraps. The seawater lapping Panda's ankles is as cold and green as the glaciers that feed these inlets on British Columbia's central coast. Yet, the bears in their heavy fur coats don't hesitate to plunge in and snort around for passing fish.
Neither the autumn downpour nor the boatloads of tourists in glaring yellow slickers faze the bears. Since the late 1990s these animals have become used to being gawked at and photographed. Their massive heads and inquisitive faces adorn the photo albums of wildlife watchers who travel the globe to see the rarest, most exotic animals on Earth. They compare the grizzlies of coastal B.C. with Indian tigers and African lions, elephants, and mountain gorillas. Some, notably Australians and New Zealanders, are bear aficionados who come to B.C. for grizzlies, then head to Churchill, Manitoba, for polar bears.
In 1997, 190 bear viewers came to Knight Inlet Lodge, a floating encampment in Glendale Cove. Last year there were 1,652. Business is up as well for Howard Pattinson of Tide Rip Tours, who runs day trips by boat from Telegraph Cove, on northeast Vancouver Island. He started in 1997 with six bear watchers; now he averages about 500 a season.
Just 240 kilometres up the coast from Vancouver, Glendale Cove offers much easier access than B.C.'s Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, near the Alaska border, and has at least as many bears--47 individuals were counted in 2001.
"People are actually getting to...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
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